Guidance system for a bar feed machine



Oct. 17, 1967 G. BODTKE 3,347,434

GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR A BAR FEED MACHINE Filed July 13, 1965 MAXRKRAUS Am United States Patent Ofifice 3,347,434 GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR A BAR FEED MACHINE Robert G. Bodtke, 1308 E. Seiberling, Peoria, Ill. 61614 Filed July 13, 1965, Ser. No. 471,638 7 Claims. (Cl. 226-162) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Guidance means at the opposite ends of an automatic bar feed machine for horizontally supporting a bar only on said guidance means so that the bar rests horizontally only on said guidance means which thereby reduces the frictional contact between the bar and the machine during the forward sliding movement of the bar.

This invention relates to a feed machine.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a guidance system for use in connection with machines which operate to feed bars to a press, spot welder, drill press, lathe, cut-off machine, and the like.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable guidance system for feeding bars of various crosssectional shapes, such as round, flat, square, rectangular, and diverse other extruded shapes.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for supporting and guiding the bar to be fed in properly alined and raised position, the bar being raised or elevated in a clearance position so that it has no contact with any guidance system for a bar portion of the machine except the guidance means on which it rests during the advancement of the bar, thereby reducing friction to a minimum and facilitating the automatic movement of said her during the advancing operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide guide means which may be readily secured to conventional automatic feed machines and whereby such feed machines can readily incorporate the invention herein in a minimum of time and with minimum cost.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a feeding system embodying the invention herein.

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an end view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view of a modification for rectangular bars.

FIG. 6 is a view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 is an end view corresponding to FIG. 4, but showing a modification for feeding a round bar to a turret lathe to a screw machine.

Reference will be made first to the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 inclusive. The structure of the automatic feeding machine is old and well-known and no invention is claimed in such structure per se. It includes a base support 10 which supports an upright rear end plate 12 and an upright intermediate plate 14. Supported on the plate 14 is a stationary housing block 16 which is provided with spaced vertical bores to accommodate vertically reciprocable posts 18 extending along the opposite sides. The posts 18 support cross-bars 20 which form clamping jaws and are adapted to engage the rod to be fed.

A movable housing block 22 has spaced vertical bores along its opposite sides to accommodate vertically reciprocable posts 24. The posts 24 support cross-bars 26 which form clamping jaws and are adapted to engage the rod to be fed. The movable housing block 22 is 3,347,434 Patented Oct. 17, 1967 mounted for reciprocable movement relative to the stationary housing block 16. The movable housing block 22 is supported on a pair of spaced stationary longitudinally extending posts 28, the opposite ends of which are anchored to the rear end plate 12 and the intermediate plate 14. The longitudinal posts 28 extend through bores in the stationary housing block 16 and also through bores in the movable housing block 22.

The movable housing block 22 is reciprocated by pneumatic means which includes a cylinder 30 extending forwardly of the intermediate plate 14. The forward end of the cylinder is secured to a front end plate 32. The front end plate 32 is supported by means of spaced rods 34, in turn anchored to the stationary housing block 16. The cylinder 30 supports a reciprocable piston (not shown) which is connected to a piston rod 36 which extends through a bore in the stationary housing block 16 and is connected to the movable housing block 22. The piston in cylinder 30 is caused to reciprocate through pneumatic means and thereby through the piston rod 36 operates to move the movable housing block 22 to or from the stationary housing block 16.

The clamping jaws 20 on the stationary housing block 16 and the clamping jaws 26 on the movable housing block 22 are each operated to clamping and non-clamping position by pneumatic means, that is, the vertical posts 18 in the stationary clamping block and the vertical posts 24 in the movable housing block are pneumatically 0perated to their raised and lowered positions. The p-neu matic operation is timed so that the proper clamping jaws engage the bar 40 in the machine, which is to be advanced when the movable housing block 22 is operated to move toward the front or toward the stationary housing block 16. During this period the clamping jaws 20 on the stationary housing block 16 are elevated to non-clamping position so as not to interfere with the forward movement of the bar 40. After the bar 40 has been fed forward, the clamping jaws 20 are lowered to clamping position, and while the forward end of the bar 40 is being worked on, both clamping jaws Zil and 26 are in clamping position against the bar 40*. When the machine is operated to return the movable housing block 22 to its initial starting position, as shown in FIG. 1, its clamping jaws 26 are elevated to non-clamping position to permit it to return without moving the bar 46 The foregoing structure is conventional.

The invention herein relates to the means for supporting the bar 40 in such a manner that it will be firmly supported and will maintain the bar elevated from the top surface of the stationary and movable housing blocks 16 and 22 respectively, and from any portion of the machine other than the guide blocks on which the bar rests. Thus, during the sliding movement of the bar 40, only the opposite ends of the bar resting on the guide blocks will have any fractional contact with the machine. By reducing to a minimum the fractional contacting surfaces, the bar 40 may be slid and advanced with the expenditure of a minimum amount of power and with very effective results.

On the rear end plate 12 is supported a guide member generally indicated at 42, which consists of a block formed of metal or the like, having a central generally V-shaped recess 44. The generally V-shaped recess comprises inclined sides 46 and 48 which merge with a horizontal bottom surface 50. Wear plates or inlays 52 are secured to the inclined sides 46 and 48 and the bar 40 is adapted to contact and rest on the wear plates 52, as best shown in FIG. 4. The guide block 42 is provided with a pair of spaced vertical bores 54 which are countersunk at the top to receive vertically extending threaded bolts 56, which in turn are in threaded engagement with vertically extending threaded bores 53 in the rear end plate 12 to secure the guide blocks 42 thereto.

A guide block or member generally indicated at 60, similar in shape and construction to guide block 42, is similarly supported and connected to the front end plate 32. The front end of the bar 40 is supported in front guide block 60.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a construction for supporting a rectangular-shaped bar 64. Supported on top of the rear end plate 12' (which corresponds to plate 12) are a pair of rectangular-shaped guide blocks 66 which are spaced from each other to define a space 68 to accommodate the bar 64. The guide blocks 66 are of identical construction and each has a central recess or channel 70 extending along the bottom thereof which provides spaced sides 72 which engage the top and sides of the rear end plate 12', as best seen in FIG. 6. The guide blocks 66 each have a vertical bore 74 which receives a vertically extending bolt 76, the lower end of which is in threaded engagement with a vertically extending bore 78 in the end plate 12'. The head 80 of the bolts engage the top of the guide blocks 66 and secure the guide blocks to the end wall 12. The two guide blocks serve to support the rectangular-shaped bar 64 at the rear end. Similar guide blocks, similarly mounted, are secured at the front end to the front end plate 32 to support the front end of the bar 64.

FIG. 7 shows a modification particularly useful in feeding round stock to turret lathes. The rear end plate 12a would be the same as end plate 12. Here there is provided a pair of guide blocks, comprising a lower guide block 82 and an upper guide block 84. The lower guide block has a centrally positioned V-shaped recess 85 and the upper guide block 84 has an inverted V-shaped recess 86 alined with the lower recess 85. The two guide blocks are supported on a pair of spaced bolts 88 which extend through alined bores 89 and 9!) in the upper and lower guide blocks 84 and 82, with the lower threaded ends of the bolts engaging vertically extending threaded bores 92 in the rear end plate. Sleeves 94 are supported on the bolts 88 between the upper and lower guide blocks. The bolts 88 each have a head 95 engaging the upper guide block 84. Similar guide blocks are supported at the front of the machine and same would be positioned on front end plate 32. The bar 96 is supported between the upper and lower guide blocks 82 and 84.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, the bars 40, 64 and 96 which are to be slid or advanced forwardly on the machines are properly aligned on the machines and are supported to have a minimal frictional contact with said machines. The surface areas of the guide blocks are the only surfaces which are engaged by the bars and the bars move forwardly without any frictional engagement with any other surface of the machines.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made from the foregoing without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for automatically feeding a bar having flat parallel sides, said machine having a movable member, clamping means on said movable member adapted to engage a bar and move it forwardly with the forward movement of said movable member, said machine having an end member at each of its opposite ends, and means on each said end member to support a bar so that it is supported during its forward movement by said supporting means, said last mentioned means comprising a pair of blocks spaced to support a bar therebetween, which bar has flat parallel sides, each of said blocks being of a generally rectangular shape and each having a vertical bore adapted to receive a bolt which is in threaded engagement with the end member, each of said blocks having a channeled recess along the bottom thereof so that the block rests on the top of the end member, with the depending sides engaging the side walls of the end member.

2. In guidance means for an automatic bar feed machine for feeding a substantially round bar, said machine having a rear end plate at one end of the machine and a front end plate at the opposite end of the machine both horizontally supported on said machine, stationary member supported on said machine and a movable member horizontally reciprocable with respect to said stationary member, clamping means on said movable member and extending above the movable member for engaging the substantially round bar, in which the invention comprises, a guide member horizontally supported on both the rear end and front end plates, each said guide member being recessed to receive the bar and support the bar in a horizontal position above the tops of the stationary and moveable members and out of engagement with the tops of said stationary and moveable members so that the bar rests horizontally on only said guide members and is out of frictional engagement with the tops of said stationary and movable members, said clamping means on said movable member adapted to engage the top of the bar when the movable member is being advanced towards the stationary member to permit the bar to be slid forwardly through the guide members, the said guide members solely supporting said bar during sliding movement of said bar to reduce the frictional engagement of said bar during sliding forward movement of the bar.

3. A structure defined in claim 2 in which the guide members each comprise a block having a generally V- shaped recess for receiving a round bar, with said block having vertical bores and fastening elements extending through said bores and anchored to their respective end plates to secure said block to said end plates.

4. A structure defined in claim 3 in which there is provided an additional member above said guide means, said additional member comprising a block having an inverted V-shaped recess and being clamped to said bar.

5. A structure defined in claim 2 in which the top of the bar extends above the tops of the guide members.

6. A structure defined in claim 2 in which the recess comprises a pair of spaced sides each inclined inwardly towards the bottom of the recess, with the bottom of the recess extending horizontally between the inclined sides.

7. A structure defined in claim 2 in which the recess is generally a V-shaped recess having a pair of inclined sides and in which wear plates are secured to cover said inclined sides so that the bar rests on said wear plates.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1949 Gilbert et al. 226158 10/1953 Tallis 226-148 X 7/1963 Brown 254106 X 

1. A MACHINE FOR AUTOMATICALLY FEEDING A BAR HAVING FLAT PARALLEL SIDES, SAID MACHINE HAVING A MOVABLE MEMBER, CLAMPING MEANS ON SAID MOVABLE MEMBER ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A BAR AND MOVE IT FORWARDLY WITH THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID MEMBER, SAID MACHINE HAVING AN END MEMBER AT EACH OF ITS OPPOSITE ENDS, AND MEANS ON EACH SAID END MEMBER TO SUPPORT A BAR SO THAT IT IS SUPPORTED DURING ITS FORWARD MOVEMENT BY SAID SUPPORTING MEANS, SAID LAST MEMTIONED MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF BLOCKS SPACED TO SUPPORT A BAR THEREBETWEEN, WHICH BAR HAS A FLAT SIDES, EACH OF SAID BLOCKS BEING OF A GENERALLY RECTANGULAR SHAPE AND EACH HAVING A VERTICAL BORE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A BOLT WHICH IS IN THREADED ENGAGEMENT WITH THE END MEMBER, EACH OF SAID BLOCKS HAVING A CHANNELED RECESS ALONG THE BOTTOM THEREOF SO THAT THE BLOCK RESTS ON THE TOP OF THE END MEMBER, WITH THE DEPENDING SIDES ENGAGING THE SIDE WALLS OF THE END MEMBER. 